Posted by kuotsung | Posted in Geek Talk | Posted on 05-07-2009
It has been so long since I last blogged. Why? I am intoxicated.
I am a Mac through and through. Although that’s what I always thought. But there’s always a reason for PC to have the lion share in the computer market. Games and wide software availabilty aside, customisation is another factor of fascination to the fans at the PC camp.
Anyway, my old PC lying at home is really old. 15″ LCD Monitor is 8 years old now, but still going strong and components are mainly 3 years younger. Booting up can take close to 5 minutes. Surfing internet can never be more frustrating.
So, with the holidays still left with some days before leaving for Perth, re-rigging (in geeks term) the PC seems feasible. It will also be a good chance to upgrade it with some HD-capability since I intend to make it a Home Theatre PC (HTPC).
With budget kept to as low as possible, choosing the components for best bang for values is top priority. Shopping from Newegg.com for RAMs and Blu-ray ROM was the biggest saver, despite the heavy shipping fees. Most of the other essentials, except Hard disks which I recycled from the current PC, were bought from Sim Lim Square.
At a little over $600, the whole PC was revamped. Blu ray can now be played, RAMs are blazing, casing is sleek. What the best part was for the price of a duo core AMD processor,Phenom II X2 550BE, it became a quad core one, through unlocking the disabled cores. Some risks have to be taken, and so far so good.
From shopping and reviewing of parts, to buying, and finally installing all the components, it was exciting and self-satisfying. So much time were spent on all the different processing, I simply just got hooked. All these tech gadgets, to most guys, are toys. We just love to fiddle around with all these indulgences, if and when time and some budget permits! If not for my Perth trip edging closer, I will spend some more time making the playing of my Blu-ray more friendly! 